NFL Playoff Picks – Who’ll Have The Edge In This Year’s NFC Championship Game?

With the Bears and Packers getting ready to renew one of football’s fiercest rivalries, which team should be involved in your NFL Playoff Picks?

Let’s take a look, as each team is looking to represent the NFC North in this year’s Super Bowl!

Green Bay Packers (2-0 Postseason, 2-0 ATS) at Chicago Bears (1-0 Postseason, 1-0 ATS)

Sunday, January 23: 3:00 p.m. Fox, Live from Soldier Field, Chicago, IL

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Betting Odds:

Green Bay: -3 ½

Chicago: +3 ½

Total: 43 ½

And simply put, if the Bears are going to be that team, it’ll come down to whether they can stop Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers or not.

To say that Rodgers was “good,” last weekend against the Falcons would be an understatement. He had one of the best games in NFL playoff history, completing 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns. Rodgers performance led Green Bay to a dominating 42-21 victory in Atlanta.

Yet if there is one defense that can slow down this high-powered Green Bay express, it’s got to be Chicago’s. On the year, Lovie Smith’s bunch was one of the best units in the league, ranking No. 9 in the NFL in total defense (314 yards per game) and No. 4 in scoring, allowing just 17.9 points per game. More importantly, in the two matchups with Green Bay, they were able to keep Rodgers in check, as they limited Green Bay’s star to just two touchdowns and two interceptions in their two matchups. For whatever reason, no team seems to play Green Bay better overall than Chicago does.

But will Chicago put enough points to be one of the smart NFL Playoff Picks of the weekend? Honestly, we’re really not sure, as the Bears finished 30th in the NFL in total yardage at just 289 per game.

And as much as Bears fans would like to say otherwise, this game comes down to Jay Cutler. If Cutler plays at the level that he did in last weekend’s Divisional win against Seattle, we see no reason the Bears can’t compete. In that game Cutler played like an All-Pro quarterback, completing just enough passes to keep the chains moving, and throwing two touchdowns and no interceptions. However, we can’t forget that Cutler is also the same guy who threw six interceptions in his final four regular season games.

Which Cutler will show up? No one knows. But we have seen enough to think that maybe, just maybe the Packers should be Sunday’s NFL Playoff Picks.

The truth is, that as good as Cutler looked last weekend, the Seattle defense is nowhere at the level that Green Bay will be this weekend. The Packers ranked second in the NFL allowing just 15 points per game this year, and with guys like Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson in this lineup, there might not be a more skilled unit anywhere in the NFL.

So in the end, while the Bears are at home, and have played Green Bay tough twice this year, we just can’t see them keeping up. Not against this defense, and not against Aaron Rodgers and a suddenly unstoppable offense.

The NFC North will have two worthy participants on the field Sunday, but only one can represent them in the Super Bowl. It will be Green Bay, the team that should be your NFL Playoffs Picks.

NFL Playoff Picks: Green Bay -3 ½ 

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